The Aelo-Burslander Invasions
Ever since the Second Era, Rollo has been set upon various times by clans from the Westenlund Burlannic tribes of the Aelonns and Burslanders, whom have a history of banding together to deal with mutual threats. These invasions are usually launched in response to Vikingr raids on their coastal villages, except for the final and current invasion turned full-scale occupation of Vorunheim, which was instigated by the rise of Draghonism. First Invasion, 12 SE The first invasion is commonly thought of as fairly insignificant by today's standards, ironically comparable to a larger than average Vikingr raid. It also happened at an unfortunate time for the invaders (though they didn't think of it that way at first), as they arrived during a war between the Noryans and orcs. After they landed somewhere around the harbor of Vorunheim, they began harassing the orcs. A unique feature of these invaders was their use of cavalry; from the ships came two lines of Aelonnic horsemen, while the Burslanders formed a shield wall on the ground. These cavalrymen did not perform very well, however. The orcs were already used to dealing with cavalry, as some clans practiced warg-riding, thus thanks to orcish infighting, orcs are generally knowledgeable in how to deal with mounted warriors. The fur-clad ranks of orcs scrambled quickly to form a phalanx with their crude spears, voulges and axes. This phalanx was several ranks deep, and so when the cavalry reached the orcs, their horses collided with the tips of cold steel rather than their swords colliding with their enemies. The entire first line of the cavalry charge was decimated, and the one after it did not fare any better, most of them having their own steeds trip over the already dead horses. Those that did not end up covered by their mount were killed by the orcs. Despite this loss, the Aelo-Burslanders on foot still charged forth, and ended up managing to drive the orcs back (a tactical retreat from their commander due to being outnumbered). Eventually they set up encampments along the shore, and began harassing the orcs occupying former Noryan settlements in Vorunheim and the Noryans that set up encampments along the border. After about nine days of minor border fights, the Noryans and orcs decided to settle their differences and band together in face of the foreign invaders. The Noryans and orcs then inflicted such great damage to the Aelo-Burslanders, that those that were still alive fled in their ships back to Westenlund. The Noryans and orcs then lived in relative peace. The second invasion would later prove much more devastating. Second Invasion, establishment of New Burlundy During a harvesting season of the middle of the Second Era, a massive war fleet set sail from the port of Bursland. In a particularly strangely well-timed "coincidence", before they landed at Vorunheim, the first Ecosian Incursion was occurring at Hjornsheim. Thus with the "Rollonians" (the new offspring of Noryans and native Rollonians interbreeding) spread thin, the Aelo-Burslanders made quite a dent when they landed in Vorunheim. This time they managed to brutally lay into their enemies, dispatching the garrison of the Vorunholm Port. They then proceeded to plunder most of the villages around the land, and besiege two of their forts. This eventually lead to Konungr Geirvar Bloodbringer ordering all of his subjects to flee from Vorunheim, for they've gotten the worst end of this invasion. Some of the refugees went east, but most went west and happened along the Ecosians besieging Haraldsholm. They joined the men of Hjornsheim in fighting off the remainder of the desert men, before turning their attention to their losses. While the western half of the land lacked the men to march on the invaders, the eastern half was filled with various refugee clans scrambling around attempting to seek refuge with an established clan's holding. The Aelo-Burslanders sent multiple warbands into the eastern half of Rollo, and they terrorized the disarrayed clans outside of the valley of Norjarn, sending them into the same state Vorunheim was already in. Now having approximately one thousand one hundred and twenty three clans of refugees running around the western half of Rollo, seeking refuge in Norjarn, Vrollenheim, and Kelheim (as well as complications going on in Vrollenheimr between the Rollo-Noryans and the native Vrolls), the Aelo-Burslanders turned their attention to their own realm, and set up encampments whilst building settlements of their own. They named their newly conquered land New Burlandy, as the majority of the invaders were Burslanders. After a solid week of border skirmishes between New Burlandy and their disorganized neighbors, a warband of axe-bearing orcs started descending from their tundra homes to terrorize the villages at the border. New Burlandy saw these as preemptive strikes from the orcs, whom they believed to all be part of a single faction, and sent a war party of two hundred and fifty men into the tundras north of their colony. They drastically underestimated the orcs, and sent only men with spears, swords and shields. The orc clans of Suttenplad responded by sending wargmen, cavalry units consisting of warriors riding the great lupine beasts known as wargs, to attack the Burslanders. They were almost completely slaughtered, with only three men returning. Later, one of the men that they captured was sent to New Burlandy, carrying a sack with him. When he arrived, he revealed this sack to be filled with the severed heads of ten of the men, and he said that they would send more later. This was regarded as a very bad omen. Not very phased by this happening, King Aevar of New Burlandy decided to send another war party, this time toward Norjarn. Knowing they couldn't best the orcs, they instead focused their attack on Norjarn, and confidently sent twice as many men as they sent into the tundra toward Norjarn. They planned to set up an encampment at the entrance of the valley, and then trap and butcher every man, woman and child within Norjarn. However, they only reached a thick forest few leagues from Norjarn before something unexpected happened. From behind the trees leapt fur-clad men with axes, which they identified as Vroll tribesmen from the east. There were about fifty of them, whom wrought havoc in the marching ranks of the Aelo-Burslanders, taking them by surprise. Then a massive war party of Rollo-Noryans and Galelanders joined the Vrolls' assault, their combined forces roughly matching their opponents. Having the advantage of surprise and fighting in an environment they're used to, the Rollo-Noryans eventually won them, and a great many of the Aelo-Burslanders fled back west. When they returned, they were executed for their cowardice. The execution of more than a hundred of their own kinsmen hurt the morale of New Burlandy's men. This was just as well a bad time for such, as it was later found that both the western and eastern halves of Rollo, along with the orcs in the north, were amassing their forces in great amounts, and marching on New Burlandy. Before they got there, against the judgement of their captains, many many men fled. Of the roughly ten thousand men that arrived in Rollo at first, only little over six hundred remained. These men were butchered badly on both sides of the border, and forced into their capital, surrounded by mountains. They were then trapped within their own walls, and completely slaughtered with no survivors. In fact, it was believed that absolutely no Aelonn or Burslander from that time lives to tell this tale, as those that fled in ships before the final assault were later executed in Bursland. After this, Rollo was in relative peace for a while, and even entered a golden age. This would soon change greatly, however. Third Invasion, establishment of Centen Category:Events Category:History Category:Invasions